Janet Cook, chief executive of London TravelWatch. Photo: Megan Clarke

Croydon’s first Transport Users Surgery opened this week to allow residents the chance to express their transport concerns.

The surgery opened to the public for the first time on an out-of-service bus parked at Croydon Town Centre on Tuesday. This brand new initiative aims to engage with service users in a unique way and address the public’s commuting concerns.

London TravelWatch, a statutory body that oversees the interests of passengers on transport networks, organised the event with TFL and Croydon Council in order to raise their profile and get feedback from the general public.

Jo de Bank, spokeswoman for London Travel Watch, said they chose Croydon because of its transport rich services, including buses, trains and trams.

Present at the event was Janet Cook, Chief Executive of London TravelWatch, who has lived in Croydon all her life. She wanted to give local people a chance to voice their concerns, impressions and experiences of transport in London.

Shirley Burge, another resident, spoke to EastLondonLines about her concern for overcrowded buses. “Bus drivers have a really rotten job and all considered they are very helpful”, she said, “however, there is not always enough room”.

“Those 109’s are a nightmare”, she continued. I’d like to see Boris Johnson riding one of them”   Shirley said she hoped the user surgery would make a difference, but added that as with everything it is a matter of money.

London TravelWatch aims to open more user surgeries next year, with the target of one surgery per borough. They asked the public to fill in a transport survey and the findings will be distributed to local transport operators and TFL in order to improve passenger experience.